Furniture construction



Dec. 27, 1960 MORSE 2,966,202

FURNITURE CONSTRUCTION Filed Nov. 7, 1958 2 Sheets-Shegt 1 Dec. 27, 1960 ofisg 2,966,202

FURNITURE CONSTRUCTION Filed Nov. '7, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 III ISI

M @ven/or United States Patent FURNITURE CONSTRUCTION Glenn B. Morse, Rte. 3, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Filed Nov. 7, 1958, Ser. No. 772,563

8 Claims. (Cl. 155-71) This invention relates to the construction of chairs and related pieces of furniture. It is well-known that a slight backward tilt of a chair will result in a very comfortable position of the occupant, in most cases even more comfortable than the most expensive fixed upholstered chair construction. To anyone who has analyzed this phenomenon, it will clearly appear that the supported position of the body within the chair has a much greater effect upon the degree of comfort than the resilience or softness of the surfaces of the furniture. It is no delusion that an ancient rocker on the cottage porch may be more enjoyable than an upholstered chair of the highest quality. In many instances, the factor of appearance is the only deterrent which keeps the ancient rocker out of the living room.

Much attention has been given to the so-called tilting chair, and several modifications have been made of the usual rocker construction. The platform rocker involves a chair having the general appearance of an upholstered chair, but provided with a platform on the underside which is formed to engage the frame in a rocking relationship. The net advantage of this type of construction is merely in that the rocker platform is capable of presenting the appearance of a set of more or less conventional chair legs, and also that the legs remain in fixed position on the floor rather than creating a path of movement as in the case of the conventional rocker. The principal disadvantage of the rocker is in its tendency to surge backward as a person gets into it. A chair having the appearance of a fixed upholstered chair is particularly deceptive, because a person might easily drop his weight with considerable force with a backward as well as downward component of movement. Under these conditions, the rocker system causes the person to move violently backward, with the accompanying feeling of insecurity. In the case of older persons, this situation is particularly irritating.

The tilting system utilized by the present invention establishes a pivot axis of the chair adjacent the arm, where the axis is at a position closely corresponding to the center of gravity of the occupied chair (which includes the chair and the average person sitting in it). The positioning of the pivot axis in this area is not itself entirely new. The British patent to Menzies, numbered 388,186 (1933), shows a use of a pivot connection between a leg system and the frame which is adjacent the arm structure. Note also the British patent to Hazard, No. 3,000 (of 1857). While the present invention is of this general type, it contains several features which render it more practical in conjunction with household furniture than any of the arrangements known to the prior art.

The difliculty in designing furniture having moving parts results from the need for the maintenance of a close fit to eliminate looseness and rattling, without utilizing an expensive structure involving close-tolerance machine operations. It is vitally necessary that the design of any portion of a furniture frame should also pro- 2,966,202 Patented Dec. 27, 1960 vide for the fact that furniture frame construction is not exactly a precision art, and that accumulations of tolerance in the ordinary woodworking technique are much more extensive than in the machine arts. One of the most desirable characteristics any movable furniture mechanism could have would be a relative independence of any tolerance accumulation. It is only with this type of an arrangement that a practical chair construction can be provided.

In a chair constructed according to the present invention, a pair of independent leg units is used (one at each side of the chair), and these units are pivotally connected to the remainder of the chair frame at or adjacent the arm structure. The chair and the occupants are thereby supported, in effect, on the arms, with the arms resting upon a relatively fixed fulcrum positioned by the floor. It is preferable that the two leg units be entirely independent, and that there be no interconnection between them. In this fashion, the accumulations of tolerance at opposite sides of the furniture frame will have no effect upon the positioning of the leg units. Each of the leg units has a leg portion at the front and rear corresponding to the front and rear legs of the chair. It will be immediately clear that a chair of this type can rest upon a warped floor surface without the slightest insecurity of position. One leg unit can be rotated out of complete opposition with the unit on the other side of the chair without in the least distorting the basic chair structure or interfering with floor support.

Each of the leg units is received between opposite members of the chair frame, and a system is provided for maintaining the spaced relationship between the leg unit and the frame members between which it moves. It is in this respect that the present invention deviates from the prior art. In the best form of the invention, these spacing members are resileint compressible devices of the type normally employed on the bottoms of furniture legs for resiliently engaging the floor. These units are conventionally formed with a very smooth surface mounted on a rubber member, with a nail being imbedded in the rubber and isolated from the hard sliding portion. The incorporation of these devices between the leg unit and the frame elements of the chair not only securely positions the leg member with respect to the frame, but establishes a resistance to movement which is highly desirable. The chair will exhibit a slight tendency to remain in position, and a feeling of being in balance on a teeter-totter is eliminated. The pivot engagement, taken together with the engagement of the locating members, maintains not only the lateral relationship of the leg unit with respect to the frame, but also fixes it against rotation on a front-to-rear axis. The chair is thereby provided with practically the same feeling of solidity as is associated with a fixed chair frame.

The several features of this invention will be analyzed in detail through a discussion of the particular embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In the drawings,

Figure 1 presents a perspective view of a chair frame (without upholstery) incorporating the preferred form of the invention. 7

Figure 2 presents a side elevation of the chair frame shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 presents a sectional elevation on the plane 33 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a section on an enlarged scale taken on the plane 4-4 of Figure 2.

Referring to the drawings, the illustrated chair frame includes the outer side rail 10 and 11, the inner side rails 12 and 13, the outer back members 14 and 15, the inner back members 16 and 17, the lower back hori- V a 3 ggntal 18, the upper back horizontal 19, the arm structures generally indicated at 20 and 21, and the front structure including the front horizontal 22 and the uprights 23 and 24. Nailing strips 25' and 26 are also included for anchoring upholstery, as will be discussed hereinafter.

The inner back members 16 and 17 are separated from the outer back members 14 and 15 by spacer blocks indicated at'27 and 28. Bolts are shown at 29 and 30 on the left side of the frame, and at 31 and 32 on the right side, to establish a firm connection which secures the inner and outer back members in the parallel spaced relationship established by the blocks 27 and 28. The inner back member 16 and the outer back member 14 establish a slot generally indicated at 33, and the definition of this slot is continued by the inner and outer side rails and 12. This same structure on the opposite side of the chair creates the slot 34. A leg unit generally indicated at 35 is positioned within the slot 33, and the leg unit 36 moves within the slot 34.

A moments analysis of the construction outlined to this point will establish that the weight of the chair and its occupant is supported by the arms 20 and 21; and that the weight is transferred from this point through the pivot connections 37 and 38 through the steel angle members 39 and 40 to the horizontal beam portions 41 and 42 of the respective leg units. In addition to the upwardly extending portions of the angle members 40, the lower portions 43 and 44 extend laterally from the respective beams to clear the nailing strips 25 and 26. With this arrangement, it is possible to keep the upholstery within a particular plane which may be dictated by considerations of appearance, and Without interfering with the tilting mechanism. Chairs having particularly thick arms will ordinarily not require the offset or the nailing strips. The lower extremities 43 and 44 are preferably secured to their respective beam portions of the leg unit by bolts as shown at 45 and 46, respectively. The leg portions 47 and 48 of the leg unit 35 together with the leg portions 49 and 50 of the leg unit 36, provide practically the same appearance as that of the conventional .fixed chair. A small amount of vertical clearance is provided between the underside of the portions 43 and 44 so that no interference will exist with the outer side rails 10 and 11.

Referring to Figures 3 and 4, the method of stabilizing the leg units with respect to the remainder of the frame is illustrated. The two resilient slide buttons 51 and 52 are preferably in a slightly compressed condition, and are secured to the beam 41 by the nail portions 53 and 54, respectively. These units are of standard design, and the details of construction form no part of this invention. In the usual form in which they are marketed, a formed sheet metal cap as shown at 55 and 56 is secured to a mass of rubber 57-58, and the Width of the slots 33 and 34 is established at a dimension that will involve a slight degree of compression of these slide buttons. They are preferably assembled to the beam portions of the leg units prior to the engage: ment of the leg units into the respective slots. It is also practical to reverse the mounting and apply the nail portions 53 and 54 into the side rails, if desired. When the slide buttons are'mounted on the leg unit beams, a path of movement is generated which is arcuate about the pivot axis, and it is often desirable to utilize a gusset such as is shown at 59, 60, and 61 in the drawings to permit the slide buttons to move beyond the edge of the respective side rails. The position of the buttons is indicated at 62 and 63 in Figure 2, and buttons in corresponding positions at the opposite side of the frame the rear of the arm, and a web or gusset member as shown at 64 and 65 may be used to more efiectively carry the loading. Conventionally, the various elements of a furniture frame are doweled and glued together, and the resulting structure is extremely strong. In many designs of furniture, the gusset members 64 and 65 may form a part of the design and appear in the finished piece of furniture as wings on the chair. The tilting movement of the chair is preferably limited in one direction by the engagement of the top of the beams 41 and 42 with the underside of the spacing blocks 27 and 28, respectively. A limit to the'rotation in the opposite direction is afforded by the engagement of the underside of the nailing strips 25 and 26 with the front of the leg units. It is also very useful, in some types of chair design, to bring the leg portions of the chair units into more close relationship, and to provide a front leg di-' rectly underneath the verticals 23 and 24 as astop to the forward rotation of the chair. In addition, the use of permanent legs preserves the identical appearance from the front of a fixed chair, which is desirable in some types of design. Ideally, the pivot point for the chair is selected so that the chair naturally tends to assume a position in which five or ten pounds of weight exists on the underside of the feet or legs of the occupant. When his feet are positioned on the floor, the chair immediately moves into an attitude which establishes this weight balance. If he places his feet up on a footstool, the chair will naturally swing backwardly and assume a position in which this weight distribution exists. It has been found that a reclining angle of approximately 35' is all that is necessary to establish the utmost in comfort.

The upholstering of the chair frame illustrated in these drawings is conducted according to the usual up holstering technique, with the arm upholstery being terminated on the nailing strips 25 and 26. An open area is then preferably left between the nailing strips 25 and 26 and the inner side rails. The area defined inside the frame at the base may be covered over with webbing on which a conventional series of coil springs is mounted, or any other conventional type of seat construction may be incorporated. It has also been found particularly effective to utilize a sub-assembled spring unit based upon a separate frame which is completed with regard to the spring assembly and then merely placed in position on the horizontal members 18 and 22. It is of great, importance that the mechanism outlined herein is adaptable to a wide variety of designs, and that the design does not have to be seriously modified in order to incorporate the tilting mechanism. It is advisable, however, to maintain parallelism between the leg units 35 and 36 to avoid a slight shifting of the legs on the floor as the chair .tilts. The locating buttons move in planes perpendicular to the tilt axis, and carry the leg units with them.

The particular embodiments of the present invention which have been illustrated and discussed herein are for illustrative purposes only and are not to be considered as a limitation upon the scope of the appended claims. In these claims, it is my intent to claim the entire invention disclosed herein, except as I amlimited by the 7 prior art. r

I claim:

1. A frame for a chair, saidframe comprising: outer and inner side rails at each of the opposite sides of said frame, said side rails being parallel and in opposite relationship; an outer back member fixed with respect to each of said outer side rails; an inner back member fixed with respect to each of said'inner side rails and parallel torsaid outer back members, said outer and inner side'rails and outer and inner back members, on each side of said frame defining a slot opening atthe rear and bottomof said frame; a spacing brlock interposed between and secured to said outer and inner back 5. members on each side of said frame; front structure on said frame securing the front portions of said side rails with respect to each other; arm means fixed with respect to said front structure and back members on each side of said frame and disposed above said inner and outer side rails; gusset means connecting each of said arm means to said respective outer back member, and certain of said side rails to said back members associated therewith; a leg member disposed in each of said slots and including a beam extending between said outer and inner side rails and having leg portions at the opposite ends thereof, said leg members each also having a portion extending upwardly to said arm means; means forming a pivot connection on a lateral axis between said upwardly extending portions and said arm means at the opposite sides of said frame, respectively, the position of said axis being selected to be adjacent the center of gravity of the finished chair; and locating means interposed between each of said beams and the associated side rails, said locating means including resilient compressed members fixed with respect to one surface and slideable with re spect to the opposite surface engaged thereby.

2. A frame for a chair, said frame comprising: outer and inner side rails at each of the opposite sides of said frame, said side rails being parallel and in opposite relationship; an outer back member fixed with respect to each of said outer side rails; an inner back member fixed with respect to each of said inner side rails and parallel to said outer back members, said outer and inner side rails and outer and inner back members on each side of said frame defining a slot opening at the rear and bottom of said frame; a spacing block interposed between and secured to said outer and inner back members on each side of said frame; front structure on said frame securing the front portions of said side rails with respect to each other; arm means fixed with respect to said front structure and back members on each side of said frame and disposed above said inner and outer side rails; gusset means connecting certain of said side rails to said back members associated therewith; a leg member disposed in each of said slots and including a beam extending between said outer and inner side rails and having leg portions at the opposite ends thereof, said leg members each also having a portion extending upwardly to said arm means; means forming a pivot connection on a lateral axis between said upwardly extending portions and said arm means at the opposite sides of said frame, respectively, the position of said axis being selected to be adjacent the center of gravity of the finished chair; and locating means interposed between each of said beams and the associated side rails.

3. A frame for a chair, said frame comprising: outer and inner side rails at each of the opposite sides of said frame, said side rails being parallel and in opposite relationship; an outer back member fixed with respect to each of said outer side rails; an inner back member fixed with respect to each of said inner side rails and parallel to said outer back members, said outer and inner side rails and outer and inner back members on each side of said frame defining a slot opening at the rear and bottom of said frame; a spacing block interposed between and secured to said outer and inner back members on each side of said frame; front structure on said frame securing the front portions of said side rails with respect to each other; arm means fixed with respect to said front structure and back members on each side of said frame and disposed above said inner and outer side rails; a leg member disposed in each of said slots and including a beam extending between said outer and inner side rails and having leg portions at the opposite ends thereof, said leg members each also having a portion extending laterally from said beam and upwardly to said arm means; means forming a pivot connection on a lateral axis between said upwardly extending portions and said arm means at the opposite sides of said frame, respectively, the position of said axis being selected to be adjacent. the center of gravity of the finished chair; and locating. means interposed between each of said beams and the associated side rails, said locating means including resilient compressed members fixed with respect to one surface and slideable with respect to the opposite surface engaged thereby.

4. A frame for a chair, said frame comprising: outer and inner side rails at each of the opposite sides of said frame, said side rails being parallel; an outer back member fixed with respect to each of said outer side rails; an irmer back member fixed with respect to each of said inner side rails and parallel to said outer back members, said outer and inner side rails and outer and inner back members on each side of said frame defining a slot opening at the rear and bottom of said frame; a spacing block interposed between and secured to said outer and inner back members on each side of said frame; front structure on said frame securing the front portions of said side rails with respect to each other; arm means fixed with respect to said front structure and back members on each side of said frame and disposed above said inner and outer side rails; a leg member disposed in each of said slots and including a beam extending between said outer and inner side rails and having leg portions at the opposite ends thereof, said leg members each also having a portion extending upwardly to said arm means; means forming a pivot connection on a lateral axis between said upwardly extending portions and said arm means at the opposite sides of said frame, respectively, the position of said axis being selected to be adjacent the center of gravity of the finished chair; and locating means interposed between each of said beams and the associated side rails, said locating means including resilient compressed members fixed with respect to one surface and slideable with respect to the opposite surface engaged thereby.

5. A frame for a chair, said frame comprising: outer and inner side rails at each of the opposite sides of said frame, said outer and inner side rails on each side being parallel respectively; an outer back member fixed with respect to each of said outer side rails; an inner back member fixed with respect to each of said inner side rails and parallel to said outer back members, said outer and inner side rails and outer and inner back members on each side of said frame defining a slot opening at the rear and bottom of said frame; a spacing block interposed be tween and secured to said outer and inner back members on each side of said frame; front structure on said frame securing the front portions of said side rails with respect to each other; arm means fixed with respect to said front structure and back members on each side of said frame and disposed above said outer and inner side rails; a leg member disposed in each of said slots and including a beam extending between said outer and inner side rails and having leg portions at the opposite ends thereof, said leg members each also having a portion extending up wardly to said arm means; means forming a pivot connection on a lateral axis between said upwardly extending portions and said arm means at the opposite sides of said frame, respectively, the position of said axis being selected to be adjacent the center of gravity of the finished chair; and locating means interposed between each of said beams and the associated side rails, said locating means including resilient compressed members fixed with respect to one surface and movable with respect to the opposite surface engaged thereby.

6. A frame for an article of furniture, said frame comprising: outer and inner side rails at each of the opposite sides of said frame, said outer and inner side rails on each side being parallel respectively; an outer back member fixed with respect to each of said outer side rails; an inner back member fixed with respect to each of said inner side rails, said outer and inner side rails and outer and inner back members on each side of said frame defining a slot opening at the rear and bottom of 7 a said frame; front structure on said frame securing the front portions of said side rails with respect to each other; arm means fixed with respect to said front structure and back members on each side of said frame and disposed above said outer and inner side rails; a leg member disposed in each of said slots andsincluding a beam extending between said outer and inner side rails and having leg portions at the opposite ends thereof, said leg members each also having a portion extending up- Wardly to said arm means; means forming a pivot connection on a lateral axis between said upwardly extending portions and said arm means at the opposite sides of said frame, respectively; and locating means interposed between each of said beams and the associated side rails, said locating means including resilient compressed members fixed with respect to one surface and movable with respect to the opposite surface engaged thereby.

7. A frame for an article of furniture, said frame comprising: outer and inner side rails at each of the opposite sides of said frame, said outer and inner side rails on each side being parallel respectively; an outer back member fixed with respect to each of said outer side rails; an inner back member fixed with respect to each of said inner side rails, said outer and inner side rails and outer and inner back members on each side of said frame defining a slot opening at the rear and bottom of said frame; front structure on said frame securing the front portions of said side rails with respect to each other; arm means fixed with respect to said front structure and back members on each side of said frame and disposed above said outer and inner side rails; a leg member disposed in each of said slots and including a beam extending between said outer and inner side rails and having leg portions at the opposite ends thereof, said leg members each also having a portion extending upwardly to said arm means; means forming a pivot connection on a lateral axis between said upwardly extending portions and said arm means at the opposite sides of said frame, respec- 8. tively; and locating means interposed between each of said beams and the associated side rails.

8. A frame for an article of furniture, said frame comprising: outer and inner rails at each of the opposite sides of said frame; an outer back member fixed with respect to each of said outer side rails; an inner back member fixed with respect to each of said inner side rails, said outer and inner side rails and outer and inner back members on each side of said frame defining a slot opening at the rear and bottom of said frame; front structure on said frame securing the front portions of said side rails with respect to each other; arm means fixed with respect to said front structure and back members on each side of said frame and disposed above said outer and inner side rails; a leg member disposed in each of said slots and including a beam extending between said outer and inner side rails and having leg portions at the opposite ends thereof, said leg members each also having a portion extending upwardly to said arm means; and means forming a pivot connection on a lateral axis between said upwardly extending portions and said arm means at the opposite sides of said frame, respectively.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,688,587 Liljedahl Oct. 23, 1928 1,733,115 Capito et a1 Oct. 29, 1929 2,284,571 Heller May 26, 1942 2,308,644 Caldemeyer -Jan. 14, 1943 2,459,269 Ellsworth Jan. 18-, 1949 2,580,165 Fox Dec. 25, 1951 2,638,968 Joncas May 19, 1953 2,828,802 Maurer Apr. 1, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 3,000 Great Britain Dec. 3, 1857 388,186 Great Britain Feb. 23, 1933 

